Despite intentionally marinating myself in the realm of curiosity for most of my adult life, I still have no clear thoughts on what the English word question means.
I sense that some of the confusion stems from the fact that we have a single word for the full spectrum of enquiries from practical short-lived questions to the eternal ones that Plato and friends were playing with eons ago such as “What is real?”
The latter questions are clearly not intended to be answered. They have lives of their own, and an infinite stream of what we call answers.
Here too we have limited ourselves with the word “answer”.
It feels so definite!
This “makes sense” if I am looking for a very specific piece of information – say What time does the train leave? There are what might be considered right and wrong answers and few of the right ones.
However, if the enquiry is something deeper such as “How might humanity build an economic system in which trees are worth more living than dead?” the word answer seems ill-fitting.
These deeper questions – whatever word we find for them – rather serve as prompts to further questions.
This reminds me of the oft-quoted passage from Rainer Maria Rilke that I so love:
“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”
Questions in the Image:
- When are questions?
- And answers?
Nurturing Curiosity – Daily Practice: This is part of the Nurturing Curiosity series of tools, insights and questions designed to help nurture curiosity as part of our daily practice. In point of fact, every interaction we have is an opportunity to question what we are observing and how we and others are seeing the world. Also remember that questions come in many forms throughout our day.
About Tom O’Leary
Tom guides bold pioneers through inner transitions towards regenerative futures.
His primary offering – through a process he calls Ecological Coaching – is about working with leaders on the mindset, skillset and structural shifts that will power their organisation’s outer transition.
This means helping leaders thrive while creating ripples of positive change within their organisation and most importantly for the communities they serve and ultimately life on this planet.
It is thus not just about the leader as an “individual” but rather as part of an ecology of relationships. Within this ecology, he helps the leader feel heard, gain clarity, take action, build confidence and thrive all in service of something bigger.
How Might Tom Help?
- My first invitation is to take maximum advantage of the free content on this site.
- As you are reading this, you are clearly on a fascinating journey. If you feel you would benefit from us doing some work together on some aspect of your journey, please explore this page: How Can I Serve?
- I also endeavour to answer every email so if you have any queries do reach out.
